PurpleLuva01's Dark Luck
by Purpleluva01
Summary: After an unexplained accident leaves the two alone; How will Cassie far against Tuff when his "inner shark" once again takes control? Light TuffXCassie. Word of warning: reapperance of the Snuggleshark!


**_Reptilian-Angel's_**

**_Dark Luck_**

**_By Reptilian-Angel_**

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**ME: This yet again another TuffXCassie light romance piece. WARNING: IN THIS STORY THERE BE SNUGGLESHARKS AGAIN! Enjoy! **

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The blast, when it came, was entirely unexpected. It ripped through the old building with a deafening boom; reducing the large but comfortably quiet room to a scene of swirling chaos in seconds.

Cassie had been knocked off her feet. Her ears rang, her head and left arm ached alarmingly and her eyes burned with the smoke and dust that was rapidly clouding the room. Stunned, she lay on her side in a pile of debris, half curled into a small blue heap as the room's harsh fluorescent lights flickered and died.

'What the heck just happened?' She wondered dazedly. She knew that she had been standing by the table next to where Tuff was sitting. They had been laughing at some joke or another one of the _Piskadoradi_ crew was telling. And then . . . Vainly, the Bettatian tried to push herself upright.

Where was Tuff? She hoped against hope that the Red-haired Sharkman had only been knocked down or stunned, as she had been and remained unhurt. But at the same time, she couldn't help but fear the worst. Surely by this time an uninjured Tuff would have found her, come to help her or at least been calling her name.

Sensitive blue appendages swiveled like periscopes. The explosion still echoed in them, but Cassie could faintly make out some of the sounds around her. There was screaming, of course. The lounge had been pretty full when . . . Well, whatever had just gone down had happened. There was a crumbling, cracking noise; as if large pieces of concrete were falling and crashing together. And she could detect a strange hissing, snapping sound, accompanied by sporadic sounds of ripping fabric.

Uh-oh.

Struggling hard, Cassie managed to turn over and prop herself up on her elbows despite the flares of pain the movement caused. What she saw confirmed her suspicions; that was most definitely not a good sound. The lighting fixtures may have been destroyed but the power was still on and the live electrical cables that dangled from the partially ruined ceiling were sparking dangerously. Everyone was still yelling, panicking, running out the thankfully undamaged door, but someone needed to get on that before the whole building caught on fire.

The Bettatian was pushing herself once more to get up when she heard it. Another sound. It was close, much too close and entirely different but much worse than the noises she had registered so far. A low, deep growl that slowly rose in volume and pitch until it resembled nothing so much as the piercing shriek of an enraged animal. The goosebumps along Cassie's skin rose without her control as the door slammed behind the last evacuee. She felt rather anxious before she finally saw the looming presence above her.

'Oh lord . . . I hope I'm wrong, but I think I know where Tuff went!'Very, very slowly, she glanced back over her injured shoulder.

Tuff crouched not three feet away, abnormally pointed canines bared in an angry hiss as he glared daggers at first the closed door, then the zapping electrical cords. Sparks reflected in once green eyes, now deep and black as pools of the sea. He twitched violently at Cassie's small movement, razor sharp nails digging into the carpet as long, wild red hair framed around a frighteningly gray face and his strong thick tail slammed into the floor.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no. . .' For a moment there was silence. Utter stillness. The Bettatian met the Were-Shark's piercing stare with a hesitant, hopefully non-threatening, smile. "Tuff? Tuff . . .?"

Tuff moved forward suddenly, a clawed hand shooting out to wrap like a vise around Cassie's upper arm. The Bettatian's sharp squeal of pain and fear as her wounded shoulder was constricted seemed to startle Tuff and he instantly let go. In a blind panic Cassie tried to scramble away, but was immediately seized again, this time around the middle. The tips of dangerously pointed pale nails dug into her skin as she suddenly found herself helpless in Tuff's grip.

'This is it,' Cassie thought with sickening clarity, scrunching her eyes shut tightly as she was effortlessly plucked up off the floor like a limp coat. 'This is where I'm maimed by a good person, who'll come to sooner or later with gore and spots of blue blood all over him and he won't even know what he did!'

It seemed to the Bettatian that she had just gotten used to being friends with the Shy Half-Shark and now she was going to be killed by the very person she had been rescued by only a few weeks ago. It was all so incredibly unfair. Dangling resignedly in Tuff's hold, Cassie held his breath and waited, nearly sick with fear.

However, nothing happened. With the smaller person securely in his grasp, Tuff carefully backed away from the door and wires, still growling viciously.

'Wait . . . I'm not dead?'Cassie tried to think over her pounding head and gasping breaths as Tuff slowly retreated into a far corner of the dark room, clutching the Bettatian to his chest and snarling all the while. This made no sense. Tuff was supposed to be completely senseless, berserk even, when he was in "Full-Shark" mode. Why hadn't she been ripped limb from limb?

For what seemed like forever Cassie stayed tightly held up by the Were-Shark's arm, too hurt and frightened to move a muscle, as all sounds other than the crackling of the wires and the rumbling of the chest against her ear faded away. She wasn't sure what to do. She was in no condition to try to get away from the Were-Shark and even if she could she would surely be caught again anyway. And making a run for it might make him mad . . .

Unable to help herself, Cassie began to tremble at the thought.

Then, all at once, the growling above her stopped. Cassie could literally feel the body she was crushed against relaxing. And, as if a switch had been flipped, all signs of aggression ceased. Rather than flashing his threat display to an empty expanse of room, Tuff was suddenly bending to gaze very closely at the Blue-Skinned Woman in his arms.

Cassie flinched, well aware of the fact that the Were-Shark currently had fangs. Rather longer and more menacing fangs than before. Tuff's face was so close she could feel hot breath on the skin of her face. The Bettatian kept her eyes closed, trying hard to stay calm as she was thoroughly inspected. 'Oh please don't bite me, please don't bite me. One snap of those teeth and I'm fish-bait!' She prayed silently to herself.

Tuff did not bite, though. Instead, he almost seemed to be sniffing at the Bettatian inquisitively. This earned a one-eyed look of surprise from the Blue-Skinned Woman as one of her ears perked up in confusion.

This wasn't right. People didn't act like this when they had been turned into ravening blood-thirsty monsters. Cassie had no idea what to think. She was startled into speech when, without warning, Tuff suddenly began to lick at the shallow cut over her eye. "Ow! Hey, that stings! Stop that!"

Tuff ignored the weak protests, continuing the strange task with single-minded enthusiasm.

Finally, made brave by annoyance and discomfort, Cassie placed a palm firmly on the Were-Shark's snout and pushed him away. "Tuff, stop that! That's disgusting! I need a bandage, you overgrown fish, not you slobbering all over me!"

If Tuff had been chastised by the scolding, he didn't show it. Large gray eye-ridges slowly perked as he looked down at her, cocking his head curiously. Cassie stared right back, still somewhat nervous. Just because she hadn't been eaten and/or mauled yet didn't necessarily mean that she wouldn't be when Tuff suddenly lost interest in messing with her.

"I, uh . . . Don't suppose you would be willing to put me down, huh?"

Tuff tilted his head further and blinked those big black eyes, obviously confused. And, despite her lingering fear, Cassie was hard pressed not to laugh.

"Tuff, listen to me. I'm only saying this once. Put. Me. Down." Cassie spoke slowly but firmly like she would with a misbehaving Clair, willing her voice steady; she pointed at the ground as she said the words. This time the request seemed to get through to the Were-Shark, who slowly lowered her to the floor.

As soon as she felt firm on her feet, Cassie thought about running. Tuff was no longer acting dangerous, but the Reader was still far from normal. Until he returned to standard form and lost the claws, large fangs, gray skin, large tail and natural bulk, it was probably better to be safe than sorry. But . . . Something held the Bettatian in check. Her thoughts returned to when she and Tuff had first met. How he instead of ripping her apart like she obviously expected, ended up acting kinda like a big cat; seeing as he purred each time he was close to her and after a while even attempted to try and tried to talk to her with his rough garbled speech.

Looking at Tuff hypothetically, she took a few careful steps toward the door and just as she expected, Tuff followed along. Cassie didn't feel like she was being pursued with malicious intent, though, so she let it be.

As a somewhat related member to one of the primary food groups and most consumed species in the Archipelago, Cassie well knew when she was being hunted. And at the moment, she wasn't on the menu. That made her feel a little calmer, but the only question that went through her mind at the moment was Why?

Tuff had never been in "Full Shark" mode for this long before. Usually it was a very quick, and sometimes messy, affair, just long enough to rip apart a few psychotic Ravens or smash a boisterous stone golem to a million pieces. Then, when the threat was gone, the Red-Haired Sharkman would almost immediately return to normal. So, what made this time different?

The reason became apparent as Cassie wandered closer to the exit, one hand held absently over her throbbing shoulder and blue skin glowing brilliantly from time to time in the light thrown by the sparking wires. The door was uncomfortably close to the loose cords, but they needed to get out of there. Cassie didn't know what had caused the freak blast, but she did know that if it had happened once it could happen again. This area of the building would be considered unstable until the Landowner could send in a team of guards to figure out what had happened.

"Well . . . Come on, Tuff." Giving the live wires as wide a berth as possible, Cassie slipped over to the door. Or at least, she tried to. Out of nowhere, two huge hands shot out from behind her and wrapped around her waist, roughly pinning her back to his body once again. "Tuff?" She cried out in surprise at his brazen actions.

The Reader was hunched down so his head was a few inches higher than Cassie's, firmly keeping her from going any closer to the danger zone. He was growling again, low in his throat, baring his teeth at the twitching wires that could flash fry a careless Bettatian in seconds. Then his gaze darted beyond the wires, into the darkness. Where the explosion had come from.

'He's still nervous,' The Bettatian realized. 'He knows it could happen again, too. That must be why he can't change back; his subconscious is waiting for the danger to come back! And he's . . . Protecting me . . .?' The last thought made her feel unexpectedly warm inside. She gave the Were-Shark a thoughtful glance before she spoke a moment later.

"C'mon, Tuff," She soothed quietly as she tenderly placed a hand to his cheek so she was sure that she had his attention. "Look, I know you don't like this. Heck, Idon't like this either. But if we can just get out of here we'll be fine, okay? We got to try. Come on, while we still got some light, huh . . . ?" If she could get her companion out of there, away from the perceived threat; surely then he would be able to let go of his Sharky side and return to normal.

Slowly, the gentle coaxing did it's job. Once again, the growling subsided and at last Tuff slowly let her go and cautiously followed Cassie around the wires to the door. Relieved beyond measure, Cassie leaned over to triumphantly grab the handle. Finally, freedom! Only . . . The handle turned, but the door did not open. She frowned, jiggling the handle sharply. "What the heck —?"

Behind him, Tuff picked up on her sudden distress and made an uneasy sound.

"It's fine, Tuff, everything's okay," Cassie quickly assured him. "Just . . . Come here and shove, huh? Push on it, like this . . ."

Under Cassie's direction, Tuff leaned a broad, sturdy shoulder against the door and pushed. Nothing. With a snort of annoyance, he pushed harder. Some give, but not much. Hardly anything, really, the resulting crack was barely wide enough to slip a piece of paper through.

"Okay, that's enough. Stop it, Tuff." Suddenly too tired to move, Cassie leaned her back against the impassible door.

They had been barricaded inside. That was the only explanation. Unwilling to face Tuff in "Full Shark" mode as he was tearing through the base unhindered, the inhabitants had confined him inside the ruined room the only way they could. And trapping Cassie along with him had been an unfortunate side effect.

'If they even thought about me at all.' The Bettatian blinked blearily to herself. 'They probably didn't. I mean, it's not like anybody but Spindle, Clair or even Tuff would miss me in the first place . . .'

The sudden tortured shriek of scraping metal jarred Cassie from her morose thoughts, forcing her to bend nearly double and clap her hands over her ears at the horrendous sound. Tuff had stretched up, almost cat-like, to dig his claws in as far up the door as he could reach and then drag them slowly down its length.

Cassie glared at his toothily grinning companion. "Ha, ha. Yeah, Tuff, you sure showed that door what's what. It won't bother us by not opening when we want it to anymore, no sir."

Tuff's little stunt had jolted her back to reality, though. Now the Blue-Skinned woman had to think.

She wouldn't ask Tuff to strain himself trying to open the door, as chances were good that every spare piece of furniture on their level had been thrown against the outside of it. No, Tuff might hurt himself. That being the case, there was only one thing for them to do: wait for a rescue party. A rescue party that would, in all probability, be a long time coming. For all anyone else knew Tuff was still out of his mind down there.

Absentmindingly, Cassie watched the Were-Shark curiously smack at a piece of loose plaster and smile when it skittered across the floor like a flat stone on a pond. 'Well, he is still out of it, but not so bad.'

Well. If they were going to be stuck there for an undetermined amount of time, they would at least have to come into possession of some supplies. There was a box of emergency items in almost even room of the building, Cassie knew. They would need water, she needed bandages, and painkillers too preferably, and they would have to have some sort of constant light source when somebody out there got smart and cut the power in their sector. The Bettatian was sure they would sooner or later; power running to an unstable area was just asking for trouble.

"Humph. Maybe they should of thought about that before they locked us in here, huh, big guy? I bet The Book'll be prettyticked off if it found out they let you get burned to a crisp. After all, if you died, who'd keep Riley from turning it into a church pamphlet?"

Tuff simply smiled agreeably, seeming content just to listen to the sound of his companion's voice.

Cassie smiled crookedly. 'Heh . . . It's kind of like how we first met. I guess . . . If I'm going be stuck somewhere hurt and scared, at least I'm with the best company I could ask for. Even if he is a little out of it right now.'No matter what freaky Shark form he happened to be in, Tuff would never hurt her. Cassie was sure of that now. Tuff was still her friend deep down and that was all that really mattered.

Patting the dust off of her skin, Cassie resolutely shoved herself away from the door. Now, at least, they had a battle plan. With Tuff following close at her side, the Bettatian felt her way across the room and into the dark shadows behind the bar against the far wall, where the scant, flickering light didn't quite penetrate.

"Step on my tail and I swear I'll smack you silly," She warned, groping for the box of supplies among the dusty bottles and spare glasses. Tuff was following her so closely she could barely move without feeling the Reader's arm brush her shoulder. "Boy, Tuff, insecure much? I'm not going to disappear on you, I swear."

Finally they were able to locate what they needed. Having been wedged under the counter behind a case of liquor, the box was in perfect condition. 'Yes!' Cassie cheered to herself as she popped the airtight container open. 'Oh yeah, this is perfect.'

Bandages and disinfectant spray, freeze-dried energy bars, a flashlight, even some good old fashioned candles and a book of matches. Everything the Mis-Matched Pair might need to tough it out until someone came to set them free from this unjust prison. Well . . . Almost everything.

"Huh. I wish there was some water or something," Cassie mused, "But I guess we can get something out of the bar if we need anything to drink—"

A sudden loud crunch immediately followed by a fizzing hiss made the Bettatian jump. Snatching up the flashlight she snapped her head around, frantically scanning the darkness behind her to see what had made the noise. "Tuff?"

When the flashlight beam landed on his shoulder the Were-Shark froze, then slowly turned to face her. For a moment, Cassie blinked at the sight. When it passed she couldn't help but laugh, slapping a palm to her own forehead.

Tuff had been nosing around the bar and bitten into a beer can. His sharp canines were sunk deep into the flimsy metal, keeping his muzzle wide open around the dented can as room-temperature beer frothed and trickled down his face and a few places in his hair. Shaking off the dripping liquid, he made an annoyed sound and trotted over to Cassie.

Still laughing helplessly, Cassie obligingly reached up to take the offending object out of her hapless companion's mouth. "If you wanted a drink, you should have said so. Or was this supposed to be for me?"

Once the can was clear of his teeth, Tuff grinned hugely and nudged his spikey hair covered forehead against Cassie's small hand. A present, indeed.

Fondly the Bettatian set the ruined can aside and reached down to rip off a good section of the pants covering her lower leg. Sitting down on a spare stool, she gestured for Tuff to come over. "Come here for a second, big fella or you're going to be all sticky now. Hold still and let me wipe this off you." Tuff did so before promptly laying his head on her lap like a dog would with his master to which Cassie chuckled at. The task was a difficult one, as Tuff playfully tried to pull the tattered fabric away more than once, but eventually Cassie managed it. "You know, I'll definitely remember this the next time you get all shy with me and act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

Cassie could really get used to this. Without anything immediate to frighten or anger him into extreme violence, having Sharky Tuff around was almost as good as the relationship she had back with a little newborn Clair. He seemed just as playful, just as innocent as she was. Just much, much sillier.

She paused for a moment and found herself looking down onto Tuff's face. He even seemed to be looking up at her the same way she used to. With eyes so full of wonder, affection and curiosity . . . She found herself smiling in remembrance and slight happiness.

On impulse, the Bettatian put each of her hands on both sides of his face and leaned down to plant her lips in-between his eyes for a quick kiss. She wasn't sure why she did; it just felt right doing so. Tuff didn't protest, in fact he went as far as to make a pleased purr and pressed her small, dainty hand furthur with an equally gentle hand. Cassie sighed silently as she pressed her forehead against his; ignoring the damp feel and strong smell of the beer-soaked bangs she was pressed against. "Tuff, words just can't describe how very happy I am that we're not dead and that you're not totally out of it."

Tuff responded simply by gently rubbing his hand up and down her wrist and looking at her with a comforting and quietly happy gaze and a low purr. She wasn't sure how long the both of them stayed like that but she didn't try and stop it. She drew the line, though, when Tuff attempted to lick her again. With a snort of amusement, she pushed the Reader back. "Okay, enough of that. I need to see to my own injuries. Do you want to help? Here, hold this end of the bandage for me."

It was a comical business, really. Cassie couldn't hold the flashlight and wrap her shoulder at the same time, so after a few fumbled attempts she lit the candles for light instead. Then Tuff managed to unintentionally slice through a good length of the gauze with his razor sharp claws. With a sigh, the Bettatian wadded up the useless pieces and threw them aside. Finally, adding insult to injury, Cassie missed the cut on her forehead with the antibacterial spray in the dubious lighting and got a good amount of the stinging liquid in her chocolate brown eye instead.

"Alright, I give up," She growled in disgust, furiously rubbing at her watering eye. "Daffy, where are you with your little first aid kit when I need you? Your little blue fish-friend's in need, here!"

It was obvious Tuff was laughing. His tail flicked happily to and fro as Cassie melodramatically lamented, little rumbling sounds of amusement escaping his widely grinning mouth. That amusement came to a grinding halt, though, as the steady hum of electricity in the air around them suddenly ceased. In the utterly silent void that was left behind Tuff's uncertain growls seemed inordinately loud.

"Looks like they finally cut the power up there," Cassie muttered conversationally as she clumsily tied off the bandage around her upper arm. "No more zapping wires now, huh? That makes you happy, right, Tuff?"

The Quillotian didn't seem so sure. Warily, he slunk back to Cassie's side, further into the dim halo of light cast by the flickering candles on the bar.

Cassie couldn't help but be amused. Were Tuff back to normal they would probably be cursing every random force of nature, alphabetically starting with Mother Nature, for leaving them stranded and then degenerate from there into fits of ill-mannered laughter. To see Tuff all but frightened because of something as minuscule as the power being shut off was almost surreal.

"Now cut out the growling, big guy. Your tough "Tuff", remember?" The Blue-Skinned Woman patted the Were-Shark's muzzle reassuringly. "We're still okay. Actually, we're safer now than we were before."

Tuff snorted and shook his head, clearly unconvinced as Cassie picked the flashlight out of the box once more.

"Well, come on, then. Since you're going to be all nervous, I guess it's up to me to lead our adventure today." Leaving the candles burning, Cassie strode confidently into the darkness, knowing Tuff would be right behind despite his apparent reservations. They would have to be quick exploring the accident site, though; Cassie wanted no part of scrambling around in dangerous territory when her already sore muscles began to stiffen. "I swear, that's the last time I hit the floor that hard. Not fun."

A complaining whine was all the resistance Tuff offered as they cautiously approached the area that had been unexpectedly reduced to rubble, but Cassie could tell he was on his toes. At that moment there wasn't a single fiber of Tuff's being that wasn't tuned to snap and lash out at anything he considered a threat. Prudently, the Blue-Skinned woman kept a little distance between them just in case.

A gaping hole in the far wall met them. Dirt and dust still swirled and drifted in the light as Cassie shone it slowly around, trying to gage the extent of the damage. Not sure how good the Red-Haired Sharkman's eyesight might be while he was in "Full Shark" mode; she took care to hold the beam of the flashlight steady so Tuff could see.

It was a wonder the stone ceiling hadn't fallen in. Cassie was grateful, though. Had that happened, odds were they and everyone else that had been in the lounge would have been killed. As it was, they could see right through the ruined remains of two walls and into the storage rooms beyond.

Cassie whistled. "Wow, that's gonna cost some pricey repairs. I wonder what happened?"

Hesitantly, Cassie crawled over the foot or so of crumbling stone, all that was left of the wall and into the open space beyond. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but she hoped she would be lucky enough to escape unscathed.

Tuff at least seemed to be calming down again. His teeth were no longer bared as they picked their way through the wreckage of what had been the store room, though he continued to growl low in his throat. Glass shards, pieces of metal and cracked concrete shifted and crunched beneath his hands and feet as he followed his friend.

"What a waste of food," Cassie lamented. Though most of it had been in crates of cans and jars, pretreated, and would have been blasé at best when and if they got any of it to eat, it was still food. Sh was sorry to see it go. A once-canned tomato squished unpleasantly when she put her foot down on it and she made a face. "Let's hurry. Move it or lose it, Tuff Luck."

The next room over, in even worse condition, looked more than ready to cave in at any moment. Cassie was smart enough to know better than to chance going inside. Standing by the broken wall, she struggled to remember what had been in this particular room. The scraps and shards of metal on the floor and wedged into the stone walls by the force of the explosion were the only clues she could see. While she pondered, Tuff came to a stop beside her.

"Hurf?"

The Blue-Skinned glanced up at the obvious question. "I think this is where the furnace for this level is, Tuff. Er— At least, where it used to be. Maybe that's what blew everything clear through the ceiling . . .?"

Tuff seemed to be considering. Without warning, he suddenly ducked down and slipped into the small room.

"Tuff!" Cassie hissed. "Get back here!" Worriedly, she scanned the light back and forth, nearly jumping out of her skin when a piece of the ceiling the size of a dinner plate came tumbling noisily down. "I'm sorry I indirectly called you a wimp, alright; now get out of there before you get yourself killed!"

She need not have been concerned, though. In seconds, Tuff was back, leaving the room as quickly as he had gone in. Carefully gripped in one clawed hand, though, Cassie could see something strange.

"What is that?" Cassie wrinkled her nose. "Don't go risking your neck to drag weird stuff out of . . ." She trailed off as Tuff proudly dropped the prize in front of him. It was part of the broken handle of a gas tank.

"Hrrr . . ."

Cassie abruptly felt faint. "What kind of moron stores a spare gas tank near a furnace_?_" She shrieked as the desire to electrocute someone stupid rapidly growing into a need. "I swear to god, if I ever find the idiot who did that I'm going to — ah, god — we could have been killed!"

Breathing hard, leaning up against Tuff's supportive shoulder, she took a short moment after her rant to try to be thankful. The tank that had gone off had been only half full, that was obvious. If it had gone off on a full, there would have been nothing left of it for them to find. And probably nothing left of them, either. If not for every horrible thing she and Tuff had already been through in the past couple of weeks, she might have thought someone was watching out for them.

When Tuff bent down and tried to pick her up, Cassie didn't protest. She allowed the Red-Haired Sharkman to carry her back bridal style into what was left of the lounge, still holding tightly to the flashlight and wincing only minutely as his claws accidentally nicked through her shirt. On the way, she instructed Tuff to test the door in the first storage room, but it too seemed to have been blocked from without.

"Wonderful," She sighed when Tuff placed her gently on the countertop next to the candles. "Looks like we really do have to wait for somebody to come back. However long that takes."

Preoccupied with grumbling to herself, Cassie didn't notice that the Were-Shark had moved away until the unmistakable sound of ripping upholstery caught her attention. Tuff was pulling cushions off the lounge sofa.

"Hey, stop that! If we're going to be stuck here all night, I'm sleeping on that, so go be bored and wreck something else!" She exclaimed in frustration.

The Reader didn't seem to want to destroy the sofa, though. He merely pulled off all the cushions and wrangled them into a pile in the corner, half shielded by the bulk of the sofa and a side table. All Cassie could see outside the ring of meager light were two luminescent green eyes glinting at her from the corner.

Cassie sighed deeply, "Look, Tuff, I know you're a bit hung up on security right now, but would it kill you to just lay on those while they're still on the sofa?"

Being annoyed with Tuff was useless, though. Ignoring the question, he soon left the pilfered cushions and became intent on a new goal. As she watched he made his way to the small closet adjacent to the bar.

"What are you doing now? There's nothing in there you need."

Undeterred, Tuff tried to open the door. He couldn't quite grip the round knob, though, as his claws got in the way. Pawing at it in vain for only a few moments, he soon moved to another plan and simply put a fist through the thin barrier. Cassie was less than thrilled.

"You do realize, I hope, that's going to come out of our none-too-bountiful-and-extremely-rare paychecks?"

An unconcerned snort indicated Tuff's feelings on that subject, if his Sharky mind could even currently process something as abstract as the concept of paychecks and costs of damage to the building. He stepped back nimbly as the broken door swung open and a pile of blankets tipped off a top shelf to scatter across the floor. One of the last to fall settled on his head, draped over the tip of his nose.

"Love the look, Tuff. Really." Cassie observed from the bar as Tuff dug into the shadows of the closet, emerging with an armful of blankets and small pillows. The Blue-Skinned Woman's ears twitched as she watched the Quillotian move his prizes to the corner and toss them on top of the sofa cushions. "I really don't think I like where this is heading . . ."

Without preamble, Tuff flopped onto the improvised nest. There was a circling and a contented sigh as he settled in; peering out of what was certainly his new safe zone. Cassie was not impressed.

"I hate ta think what crawled in those blankets last time they came out of that closet. For that matter, I don't like to think about what's crawling all over those couch cushions you're laying on." Deep green eyes stared her down expectantly from the corner. "Forget it, Tuff. I'm not sleeping over there."

"Nrrrrr?"

"Nuh-uh. Nope. Not doing it." Obstinately, she turned her back to the corner and hunched closer to the small warmth the candles provided. "I'm okay right here, thank you."

"Rrrrr . . ."

"Oh, you are not going to change my mind. But, if you want to put the couch back together . . . I might consider it." A snort sounded from the shadows. "Well, fine! Not like I really care. We might even be out of here by the time you'd get to sleep, anyway. Maybe."

Somewhat uncomfortably, the Blue-Skinned Woman settled down to wait. She really did wish someone would come back. Just one person brave or stupid enough to return to check on them and she could get the word out that Tuff and her were okay, that he wasn't going to hurt anyone and it was safe to let them out of that forsakenly dark room. As it was, though, there was no sign of help on the way. She was tired and cold. Her head hurt and her arm and shoulder were beginning to throb again. 'Okay, yeah. This is horrible. So much for our week off.'

Cassie felt Tuff moving before she heard him. Pretending not to notice, he ignored the Quillotian until Tuff was hovering right behind her. "Hey, Tuff?"

"Hmmrr?"

"You think Clair or Spindle know what happened? Do you think anybody told them yet? This'll make a heck of a story back at the _Piskadoradi_." She laughed quietly, forcing herself to make light of the less than opportune situation. "I wonder if Credenza or Riley know . . ."

Honestly, she wondered if Spindle would even care very much. Lately the Gray-Haired Seranith had been distant toward her, at best, and toward Clair and Anth- Blitz, in particular. Not that the two would ever say anything about it, but Cassie could tell that Clair being an Heir, an amnesiac Blitz returning to their island and causing the events leading up to Holly Path's Death bothered the Teenager badly. She knew that Honest-To-God Clair never meant for any of that to happen; she never wanted Captain Snow to come, she never even knew the Slaughterer existed. Honestly, Cassie wished he didn't.

A soft hand ghosting down her spine, careful of scratching claws, brought her out of her depressing thoughts. "Yes?"

Apparently Tuff had taken the question as an answer. Not bothering to ask further permission or hear Cassie's feelings on the matter, he scooped the Blue-Skinned Woman off the counter and returned to the chosen corner. Cassie was less than pleased as she was unceremoniously dumped into the "nest." She immediately tried to climb out, but a big hand shooed her back in. "Let me go, you overgrown fish! I told you I wasn't going to sleep here, darn it!"

The Reader's expression clearly said "Oh yes, she was." And Cassie really couldn't dispute that, since Tuff had a firm hold on her already. She could still complain with the best of them, though.

"If I get fleas off of these blankets I'm going —" She began warningly, but prudently shut her mouth when Tuff gave him a sidelong look with those black/green eyes. "Uh . . . Never mind." With a huff, Cassie turned her back on the Were-Shark and curled her legs up under her chin. Alright, so she had to sleep there. She didn't have to like it.

"I should have tried to crawl out through the vents and left your bossy tail . . ." She growled, declining to comment on the arm that snaked around him. Nor was she obligated to recognize the fact that the blankets and pillows were soft and smelled like fabric softener. But she did, grudgingly. "Meh . . . Maybe somebody in this place knows how to do laundry after all."

The growl at her back was almost smug as Tuff pulled her closer, lifting her briefly and tucking her in his lap and close to his chest. Despite herself, Cassie blushed deep blue in surprise and shivered appreciatively as the warmth of her companion's body heat began to seep into her aching muscles. Perhaps this wasn't quiteas bad as she had thought.

"Okay . . . So campout on the floor was kind of a fun idea. I'll let you have that."

She could still clearly see the flickering light from the candles across the room, but where they lay they were completely concealed by the shadows. Cassie could almost admit to understanding why Tuff felt more secure in the corner, with barriers on all sides and the only way out in front of them. One point for survival instincts.

'Like anybody's going to mess with us anyway,' She thought wryly on a wide yawn. 'Most of them would probably rather take on a full nest of ravens than bother Tuff Luck when he's gone Sharky. Hmm . . . I guess that makes me the safest girl around.'

A sleepy groan escaped her after Tuff bent over to grab a loose blanket and wrapped it tightly around the both of them; he then wrapped both of his muscular arms around her lithe body and began to nuzzle fondly at her cheek and shoulders. Maybe it was weird. Maybe she should nudge the Red-Haired Sharkman away. Just then, though . . . Cassie didn't really care all that much. Suddenly she didn't care about a lot of things.

Snow and his hapless minions could go to hell. Their fellow crewmates could forget about them. Anthony could change, date creeps and neglect his responsibility to Clair. Even protecting the Heirs could wait for a while. Right then, all that really mattered was the Mismatched Pair, safe and, most importantly, together.

With a sigh of near contentment, Cassie reached up and scratched lightly under Tuff's chin. The simple action earned her a very pleased purr. "Get some sleep, big guy. Who knows . . . Maybe when we wake up, you'll be back to normal, huh?"

A noncommittal rumble and something like a chaste kiss on her temple from Tuff was all the answer Cassie got, but she didn't mind. Chuckling quietly, chocolate brown eyes slowly falling shut, the Blue-Skinned Woman snuggled closer as she wrapped one arm around his torso and left the other on his chest. And minutes later, a small smile on her face, she drifted off to sleep.

**_The End_**


End file.
